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Bloodbowl

I've been a fan of the original tabletop Games Workshop board game of Bloodbowl since it was first released many many years ago. In the late 80's I think (now feeling very old). And I mostly played the version 2 rules with the great poly board which I painted to look like stone. Along with detailed painted lead figures of my team's players.

If you don't know what Bloodbowl is, it is set in the Warhammer Fantasy universe, and is loosely based on American Football. You control a team of players made up from 8 of the Warhammer universe's races, including Humans, Orcs, Goblins, Wood Elves, Dwarfs, Skaven and the Lizardmen. And finally Chaos, which is a team made up of Beasts such as Beastmen and Minotaurs. Normally a team will consist of just one of these races as they don't tend to get along with each other, but sometimes you can recruit a mix.

There are quite a few races missing from the computer version of the game, such as Ogres, Trolls, and Dark Elves. One of my favourite teams was the Dark Elves, but I also loved playing Skaven as they are much faster than other races, although a little weak if blocked.

Anyway, the computer game version of Bloodbowl is a perfect recreation of the original boardgame. It follows the rules exactly to the book, using all the same stats players use to determine throw and catch accuracy and success, as well as blocking and defence success. The original dice roles are even still emulated in the background.

You can play the game in traditional turn based, which is how it should be played. During your turn you can move players, throw the ball, pick up the ball, block and tackle, but if you drop or lose the ball the turn ends and the opponent then takes their turn.

As I mentioned it is based on American Football, but is more like Speedball or other fantasy or futuristic games, with you able to attack and injure the opposition. Video games based on the idea of Bloodbowl have been tried before. The Amiga obviously saw Speedball, but that was a slightly different game experience because it was geared towards fast flowing arcade action, whereas Bloodbowl has always been a turn based strategy game at its roots. And we also saw Brutal Sports Football, which was much closer to Bloodbowl, with an Amiercian Football style pitch, and players of different races attacking and killing each other while trying to score a touchdown. That was however still a fast paced arcade game.

And more recently we have seen Chaos League, which was heavily based on the Games Workshop Bloodbowl rules and ideas, but wasn't licensed by the company, which actually did cause some licensing issues and court disputes at the time.

Chaos League was a great game and the closest at the time to the real thing, but now we have the real licensed Blood Bowl and it is the closest to the real rules, and its turn based gameplay played exactly like the original board game. This game is now about fast paced action and quick player reaction. It is about turn based tactics and forward thinking. If you like fast paced arcade action you will probably get bored quickly of Bloodbowl because it is slow turn based gameplay where planning and strategy are the key factors.

It does also have a realtime game mode, so you could in theory play it as an arcade style fast paced game, but the action gets too hectic and mad and makes it impossible to create any real tactics and strategies during play. The turn based game play is much more faithful to the original game.

This game is also heavily aimed at the multiplayer aspect, with you able to log into the game servers and fight against other real players. The servers also keep tabs on your progress and the condition of your players. So as you play you level your players up, gain more skills, become stronger etc.. but also your players can sustain perminant injuries such as the lose of an eye or arm. Not good for throwing or catching! lol But it gives them so unique character!

So if you loved the original board game you will love this. If you love turn based strategy games and RTS then you might also get into and enjoy this greatly. If however you like real time action in your futuristic sports games then this could become to stat, strategy, rules and time heavy for you to enjoy. You could still enjoy the realtime gameplay mode but you would miss out a lot of the strategic elements of the gameplay.

I would give the game at least 8/10 and probably closer to 9/10 because I love the original so much as it is a perfect recreation. It does however have a few flaws. In single player mode the computer components are too vicious, but recent patches have helped with that balance. But it is the multiplayer where the game really comes alive.

There is also going to be versions released soon for the PSP and NDS. The PSP version could be an interesting one if it includes multiplayer.

If you haven't played a classic game in years, it's never too late to start!

Oh yes, I remember the board game. In fact a friend still has it and we even dust it off for a game about once a year. I'm surprised it's taken this long for the official game to be released. I like the strategic, turn-based nature of it (which must be why I like American Football). And the violence is good as well.

I know the game, but as I never played it in my life, it's quite hard to master, and I don't have the time to invest into this. I played some Chaos League, but I reached my limits very fast, as also this one is tough, if you never had to do something with it before.

It looks great, and I like the setting a lot, meaning that I love football, being fan since 1995, and I also love the setting of the game with beasts and chaos going havoc. I was already a fan of M.U.D.S., which imo can also be compared to it a bit.